Pierre Smith from North West University writes about the Ussa Cycling Championships.
About a month ago North West University asked me to join their team to race the student tour this upcoming holiday.
At first I was a bit unsure because this is some serious road racing and I am a mountain biker. I only raced one road bike race like two years ago and it was a small local one.
After a few thoughts I agreed and prepared myself for this tour.
To give you guys some info on the stages – this is not a walk in the park – on day one we had the mountain biking leg a 50km XCO race starting at rosemary hill.
I knew I had to give everything cause this is my territory the rest of the week I will be in their territory.
It was tough racing cross country again but I enjoyed it a lot and got myself a second place overall and it took some pressure off me for the rest of the week.
It was a nice track with some awesome singletrack and technical sections and I enjoyed every moment of the race.
Day two (stage one) was the start of the road tour and we started with a 80km short stage in the morning. Everyone was a bit nervous in the group and was a bit unsure what to expect from one another.
Soon after the start the attacks began and it was full throttle all the way. I was a domestic (worker) in the team so I had to do a lot of chasing and pace making at the front of the race.
There were no surprises and most of us finished in the peloton.
Read the full race report here.
